[*sigh. with all the kneading.]

when love beckons to you, follow him
  though his ways are hard and steep.
and when his wings enfold you yield to him,
  though the sword
  hidden among his pinions
  may wound you.
and when he speaks to you believe in him,
  though his voice may shatter your dreams
  as the north wind lays waste the garden.

for even as love crowns you, so shall he crucify you.
even as he is for your growth, so is he for your pruning.
even as he ascends to your height
  and caresses
  your tenderest branches
  that quiver
  in the sun,
  so shall he descend to your
  roots
  and shake them
  in their clinging to the earth.

like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself:
  he threshes you to make you naked,
  he sifts you to free you from your husks
  he grinds you to whiteness.
he kneads you until you are pliant;
  and then he assigns you to his sacred fire,
  that you may become
  sacred bread
  for God's
  sacred feast.

all these things shall love do unto you
  that you may know the secrets of your heart,
  and in that knowledge become a fragment of life's heart.
but if in your fear you would seek
  only love's peace and love's pleasure,
  then it is better for you
  that you cover your nakedness
  and pass out
  of love's threshing-floor,
  into the seasonless
  world
  where you shall laugh,
  but not all of your laughter;
  and weep,
  but not all of your tears.

love gives naught
  but itself
  and takes naught
  but from itself.
love possesses
  not
  nor would it be possessed;
  for love
  is sufficient
  unto love.
when you love you should not say,
  "God is in my heart,"
  but rather,
  "I am in the heart of God."
and think not you can direct the course of love,
  if it finds you worthy,
  directs your course.

love has no other desire
  but to fulfill itself.
but if you love,
  and must needs have desires,
  let these be your desires:

to melt
  and be like a running brook
  that sings its melody
  to the night.
to know the pain
  of too much
  tenderness.
to be wounded
  by your own understanding of love;
  and to bleed
  willingly
  and
  joyfully.
to wake at dawn with a winged heart,
  and give thanks for another day of loving;
  to rest at the noon hour
  and meditate love's ecstasy;
  to return home at eventide
  with gratitude;
  and then to sleep
  with a prayer for the beloved
  in your heart
  and
  a song
  of praise
  upon your lips.